JP2005303792A - Vehicle periphery monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle periphery monitoring system efficiently utilizing a band of a transmission path. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicle periphery monitoring system is provided with: an image pickup unit 1 installed on the front end of a vehicle to pick up the image pickup region of a left direction, the image pickup region of a right direction, and the image pickup region of an obliquely downward direction of the front side of the vehicle, and outputting a picked-up video image; a transmitter 4 for segmenting a display video image being a video image to be displayed from among picked-up video images outputted from the unit 1 by a built-in segmenting section 2, and transmitting the segmented video image to a radio transmission path 6; a receiver 8 for receiving the display video image via the radio transmission path 6; a display device 3 for displaying the display video image received in the receiver 8; and a control unit 7 for controlling the display device 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring system that images an imaging region around a vehicle and displays the captured image in a vehicle interior.

  In this type of conventional vehicle periphery monitoring system, an imaging region around the vehicle is imaged using an imaging unit attached to the vehicle. The captured image is transmitted to the vehicle interior using a wired or wireless transmission path and displayed on a display screen of a display device provided in the vehicle interior. An example of such a vehicle periphery monitoring system is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

JP 2003-204545 A

  By the way, in the conventional vehicle periphery monitoring system, the captured image is captured in the vehicle interior in an area other than the imaging area that needs to be displayed (in other words, the area used by the driver for monitoring the surrounding area). Has been transmitted.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, for example, imaging areas A1 and A2 on the left and right sides of the vehicle front side are imaged using an imaging unit 1 as shown in FIGS. However, in actuality, light incident on the prisms 15 and 17 included in the imaging unit 1 is incident on the prism corners 15a and 17a and is diffusely reflected in the prisms. Some of the images are unclear and unsuitable for display. Moreover, since light incident on the vicinity of the imaging optical axis 21 among the light incident on the wide-angle lens system 11 included in the imaging unit 1 is diffusely reflected in the lens, a part of the imaging area A3 on the obliquely lower front side of the vehicle is also The image is unclear and is not suitable for display.

  Thus, in the conventional vehicle periphery monitoring system, the captured image is transmitted to the vehicle interior even for the imaging region that does not require display. For this reason, there is a problem that the bandwidth of a transmission line such as a radio cannot be used efficiently.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring system that can efficiently use the bandwidth of a transmission path.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a vehicle periphery monitoring system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures an imaging region around the vehicle and outputs a captured image, and the captured image output from the imaging unit. And a display unit that cuts out a display video that is a video that needs to be displayed and outputs it to a predetermined transmission unit, and a display that is provided in a vehicle interior and that displays the display video transmitted from the cutout unit via the transmission unit Means.

  Further, the vehicle periphery monitoring system according to the invention described in claim 2 is the vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the display area on the display means corresponds to an image that does not require display in the captured image. Another video is displayed on the screen.

  Since the vehicle periphery monitoring system according to the first aspect of the present invention cuts out the display video that needs to be displayed from the captured video and transmits it by the transmission means, the bandwidth of the transmission path can be used efficiently. Therefore, it becomes possible to use the vacant band for data transfer for error correction and transmission of other encoded data.

  In addition, the vehicle periphery monitoring system according to the second aspect of the present invention displays other video in a display area corresponding to a video that does not need to be displayed, so that the visibility is improved or the information displayed on the display means is displayed. The amount can be easily increased.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle periphery monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a longitudinal section of an imaging unit, and FIG. It is a figure which shows a planar structure.

  This vehicle periphery monitoring system is installed at the front end of the vehicle, and as shown in FIG. 1, the left imaging region A1 (see FIG. 4), the right imaging region A2 (see FIG. 4), and the diagonal direction on the vehicle front side. An imaging unit (imaging means) 1 that images the imaging region A3 in the downward direction (see FIG. 4) and outputs a captured image, and a display image that is a display image that needs to be displayed among the captured images output from the imaging unit 1. The transmitter 4 cut out by the built-in cutout unit (cutout means) 2 and sent to the wireless transmission path 6, the receiver 8 that receives the display video via the wireless transmission path 6, and the display video received by the receiver 8 A display device (display means) 3 for displaying and a control unit 7 for controlling the display device 3 are provided.

  2 and 3, the imaging unit 1 includes a wide-angle lens system 11, an imaging element unit 13, two prisms 15 that are reflection means that reflects light in the left-right direction and introduces it into the lens system 11. 17 and a case 19 that accommodates these, is installed at the front end of the vehicle (for example, the lower part of the emblem, etc.), and the imaging region A1 in the left direction on the front side of the vehicle (see FIG. 4), imaging in the right direction An area A2 (see FIG. 4) and an imaging area A3 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) in a diagonally downward direction are imaged. The wide-angle lens system 11 and the imaging element unit 13 constitute an imaging unit 20.

  The wide-angle lens system 11 includes lenses 11a to 11d and has a horizontal field angle of 90 degrees and a vertical field angle of 70 degrees. The wide-angle lens system 11 is installed with the incident side facing the front side of the vehicle, and the imaging optical axis 21 is set so as to form a predetermined angle θ1 (here, about 15 degrees) obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction 23. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each prism 15, 17 has a triangular cross section, with one of the triangular corners 15 a, 17 a facing the vehicle front side, on the front side of the wide-angle lens system 11, It is erected along the vertical direction so as to be symmetrical with respect to the imaging optical axis 21. The first side surfaces 15b and 17b of the prisms 15 and 17 are light incident surfaces that receive light, and the second side surfaces 15c and 17c are mirror-finished (a protective film made of black paint after an aluminum film is deposited). The third side surfaces 15d and 17d are light emitting surfaces that emit light. Further, a light shielding member (including a light shielding film) 25 is provided on the lower bottom surface of each prism 15, 17.

  The prisms 15 and 17 receive the light from the left and right imaging regions A1 and A2 from the first side surfaces 15b and 17b, and the first side surfaces 15b and 17b are mirror-finished second side surfaces 15c and 17c. After being reflected to the side and totally reflected to the wide-angle lens system 11 by the side surfaces 15b and 17b, the light is emitted from the third side surfaces 15d and 17d.

  Each of the prisms 15 and 17 has a lower end surface inclined obliquely downward toward the front side of the vehicle, and a predetermined angle θ2 (40 in this case) from the upper part of the entire vertical field angle of the wide-angle lens system 11. It is arranged so as to cover the area.

  For this reason, the light from the left and right imaging areas A1 and A2 passes through the prisms 15 and 17 in the range of the predetermined angle θ2 (40 degrees) from the upper part of the vertical field angle (70 degrees) of the wide-angle lens system 11. In the range of the remaining angle θ3 (30 degrees) on the lower side of the vertical field angle, light from the imaging area A3 on the vehicle front side without passing through the prisms 15 and 17 is incident. As a result, the light from the left and right imaging areas A1 and A2 and the imaging area A3 obliquely below the front side is imaged by the wide-angle lens system 11 so as not to overlap each other on different areas on the imaging element unit 13, and The image pickup device section 13 picks up images of the three image pickup areas A1 to A3 in the left and right and front side obliquely downward directions shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 at a time. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the blind area B in the vicinity of the front end of the vehicle on the front side of the vehicle, which is blocked by the front nose of the vehicle, can be accurately imaged by the imaging area A3 in the obliquely downward direction on the front side.

  The imaging element unit 13 is configured to include at least one imaging element, receives light from the wide-angle lens system 11, images the imaging areas A1 to A3 in three directions, and captures the captured video (video signal). Output to the control unit 7.

  The case 19 is provided with a through-hole portion 19a for taking in light from the imaging areas A1 to A3 in three directions.

  The display device 3 is configured by a liquid crystal display device or the like, is installed in the vehicle interior, and displays a captured image or the like of the imaging unit 1 under the control of a video processing unit 7b of the control unit 7 described later. Here, the video in the left imaging area A1 is displayed in the upper left display area C1 among the three display areas C1 to C3 (see FIG. 6) set on the display screen 3a of the display device 3, and the rightward direction. The image of the imaging area A2 is displayed in the upper right display area C2, and the image of the imaging area A3 in the diagonally downward direction on the front side is displayed in the lower display area C3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 7 includes a control unit 7a and a video processing unit 7b. The video processing unit 7b displays the captured video or the like of the imaging unit 1 on the display device 3 in various display modes described later under the control of the control unit 7a.

  As described above, the captured images A1 to A3 include an area other than an imaging area that needs to be displayed (in other words, an area used by the driver or the like for monitoring the surroundings). Further, light incident on the prisms 15 and 17 included in the imaging unit 1 is incident on the prism corners 15a and 17a and is diffusely reflected in the prism, so that the ends of the imaging regions A1 and A2 in FIG. Some of them are unsuitable for display because the image is unclear. In addition, among the light incident on the wide-angle lens system 11 included in the imaging unit 1, the light incident on the vicinity of the imaging optical axis 21 is irregularly reflected in the lens, so that a part of the imaging area A3 becomes unclear and displayed. Not suitable.

  Therefore, the cutout unit 2 cuts out only the captured video that needs to be displayed, except for those that do not need to be displayed, as a display video. A plurality of types of data such as a cut-out address related to the area to be cut out are stored in advance in a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) built in the control unit 7a. Then, in accordance with the type of imaging unit such as a camera or a user command, a desired cut-out address is downloaded from this nonvolatile memory to an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) register built in the transmitter 4, Settings are made. That is, by using a non-volatile memory, even when an imaging unit such as a new camera is added, it can be dealt with by simply rewriting the non-volatile memory.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the captured images corresponding to the display areas D1 and D2 surrounded by the thick lines in the display areas C1 and C2 are corner portions 15a and 17a of the prisms 15 and 17 in FIG. Since the captured image includes a captured image captured by light incident on the vicinity and is not used for monitoring the surroundings, the captured image is excluded from the display image. In addition, the captured image corresponding to the display region D3 surrounded by the thick line in the display region C3 includes the captured image captured by the light incident near the imaging optical axis 21 of the wide-angle lens system 11 in FIG. Therefore, it is excluded from the display image because it is a captured image that is not used. That is, since the captured images corresponding to the display areas D1 to D3 are removed from the display image by the cutout unit 2, they are not transmitted to the wireless transmission path 6 by the transmitter 4. Thereby, it is possible to save about 10% of the band of the wireless transmission path 6.

  In addition, the video processing unit 7b displays other video (for example, a mask such as a frame and character information 12 such as a warning) without displaying the captured video in the display areas D1 to D3. This makes it possible to improve visibility and easily increase the amount of information to be displayed.

  FIG. 8 shows a case where only the imaging areas A1 and A2 are displayed on the entire display screen 3a using only the light incident on the prisms 15 and 17 without using the wide-angle lens system 11 in FIG. (The imaging unit used in this case is not shown in the figure, but has a simplified configuration of FIGS. 2 and 3). Even in this case, it is possible to save about 10% of the band of the wireless transmission path 6 as in FIG. In addition, it is possible to improve visibility and easily increase the amount of information to be displayed.

  In FIG. 8, in the display areas D1 and D2, the symbol mark 10 displayed in two directions is displayed on the mask. The symbol mark 10 is obtained by adding a mark indicating a state in which a vehicle peripheral image in two directions is displayed on the left and right to a mark indicating a vehicle shape. Alternatively, instead of such a mark, another background, character information 12 in FIG. 7 or the like may be displayed.

  In the above description, the case where the imaging unit 1 installed at the front end of the vehicle is used has been described. However, the imaging unit is not limited to the front end of the vehicle, but may be one installed at the vehicle side or rear of the vehicle. Good. FIG. 9 shows a case where the imaging area A4 on the left rear side of the vehicle is imaged and displayed on the entire display screen 3a using an imaging unit (not shown) provided around the door mirror on the left side of the vehicle in FIG. Is. Here, in the display area C4 to be displayed, the host vehicle is shown in the display area D4 in the vicinity of the right end portion surrounded by the thick line, and therefore it is not always necessary to display all of the vehicle (the vicinity of the left end portion is an adjacent vehicle). Therefore, by removing the captured image corresponding to the display area D4 by the cutout unit 2, it is possible to save about 15% of the band of the wireless transmission path 6.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a vehicle periphery monitoring system according to a modification. FIG. 10 is a diagram in which the instruction signal input from the operation input device 31 in FIG. 1 is transmitted to the imaging unit 1 via the wireless transmitter 32, the wireless transmission path 6, and the wireless receiver 33. is there. That is, in the wireless transmission path 6, information is transmitted and received in both directions. The instruction signal is also sent to the control unit 7 a in the control unit 7. Thereby, for example, setting of information on the region to be cut out, selection of whether the display state of the display screen 3a is as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. This can be done by instruction.

  As described above, the vehicle periphery monitoring system according to the present embodiment cuts and transmits the display video that needs to be displayed from the captured video, so that the bandwidth of the transmission path can be efficiently used. Therefore, it becomes possible to use the vacant band for data transfer for error correction and transmission of other encoded data.

  In the transmission of the above-described captured video, what can be divided may be divided and transmitted. For example, in FIG. 7, the video data is divided into three by the imaging areas A1 to A3, and in FIG. 8, the video data is divided into two by the imaging areas A1 to A2. As a result, it is possible to reduce the influence on the visibility when an error occurs in the transmission path. Further, in the above-described video data processing, partial extraction of video can be easily performed by using intra-frame compression.

1 is a block diagram of a vehicle periphery monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the longitudinal cross-section of an imaging unit. It is a figure which shows the planar structure of the principal part of an imaging unit. It is a figure which shows the imaging area of an imaging unit. It is a figure which shows the imaging area of an imaging unit. It is a figure which shows the display state of a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the display state of a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the display state of a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the display state of a display apparatus. It is a block diagram of the vehicle periphery monitoring system which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging unit 3 Display apparatus 4,32 Transmitter 6 Wireless transmission path 7 Control unit 8,33 Receiver

Claims (2)

An imaging means for imaging an imaging area around the vehicle and outputting a captured image;
A cutout unit that cuts out a display video that is a video that needs to be displayed from the captured video output from the imaging unit and outputs the cutout video to a predetermined transmission unit;
A vehicle periphery monitoring system, comprising: a display unit provided in a vehicle interior for displaying the display image transmitted from the cutout unit via the transmission unit. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1,
A vehicle periphery monitoring system, wherein another image is displayed in a display area on the display means corresponding to an image that does not need to be displayed in the captured image.

Images